Nigeria Retains 32nd Spot in May FIFA Ranking

Femi Solaja with agency report

In spite of the back-to-back win recorded by the Super Eagles in the last FIFA window, Nigeria remained static third spot in the continent and 32nd position globally in the May ranking released by the world football governing body yesterday.

The Super Eagles had defeated Squirrels of Benin Republic in Porto Novo by a lone goal and an emphatic 3-0 win over Lesotho in Lagos to confirm a place in the next 2022 AFCON tournament in Cameroon next January.

However, Super Eagles victories over Benin and Lesotho thereby leading to accumulated 1487 points, appear to count little in affecting the position of Nigeria in this latest ranking.

Aside Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya also didn’t make any movement in the latest ranking.

Former African champions, Bafana Bafana who square up against Zimbabwe later this year, still retained their 15th place in Africa and 75th in the world.

The Harambee Stars will not be featuring at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, nonetheless, they still maintain their 23rd spot in Africa and 102nd position globally.

Charles Akonnor’s Black Stars of Ghana who are unbeaten in their last two games sit in seventh place in Africa and 49th in the world.

Senegal are ranked first in Africa and 22nd in the world with 1542 points while Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles – who are also unmoved – remain 26th globally and second in Africa after accruing 1512 points.

Guinea Bissau was the biggest mover in April – leaping a massive 11 places to rank 108th in the world, while Namibia are ranked 111th.

For Africa Cup of Nations debutants Comoros, losing 4-0 to Mohamed Salah’s Egypt on the last day of their AFCON qualification are rated no. 36 in Africa and 131st worldwide.

The order of the top six has not changed, with Belgium leading the pack while France, Brazil, England, Portugal and Spain follow in that order.

With most African teams taking part in international friendlies in June, there is bound to be significant movement in the next edition to be released on August 12.

Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles would face AFCON hosts Cameroon in a friendly game while Senegal will try Zambia and Cape Verde for size.